Women in Finance 2025 Summary

Ambition and Definitions: A review of how ambitious the targets are, including how signatories define “senior management”. As well as the quality, transparency and reporting of progress updates.

Methodology: Analysis includes data from the 205 signatories that signed the Charter in September 2024, by organisations with at least 250 staff, anonymised and aggregated for confidentiality.

This review is a call to action for signatories to benchmark their efforts, reflect on their progress, and continue driving meaningful change. Gender balance isn’t just a fairness issue, it’s a business imperative.

Headline Statistics

Female representation in senior management rose to 36% in 2024, up from 35% in 2023, continuing a steady one-percentage-point annual increase.

Meeting Targets

• 36% of signatories met or exceeded their stated gender targets in 2024.

• A further 44% of firms with targets due in future years say they are on track.

Pace of Change

• Despite cumulative progress since 2016, with senior women increasing from ~27% to 36%. The annual pace of one percentage point means gender parity won’t be reached without significant acceleration.

Sector Differences

• UK retail banks and insurers continue to lead with relatively higher female representation.

• Investment managers and global/investment banks lag behind.

Actions and Behaviours

• A broader set of actions beyond recruitment is gaining focus:

• 82% of signatories are emphasising retention, culture and inclusion practices, not just hiring.

• 89% gather additional diversity data (e.g., ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation), up from previous years.

Accountability & Transparency

• 97% of firms place the accountable executive role at executive committee level.

• 74% report that linking diversity outcomes to executive pay is effective.

• 88% published an annual progress update, though only 32% included all the required details set by HM Treasury.

Key Themes & Insights

Steady but Slow Progress: Growth in female senior representation, though consistent, is slow, and firms must adopt more strategic, data-driven, and culturally embedded approaches to accelerate change.

Broadening Focus: Firms are increasingly embedding D&I into core business functions, moving beyond recruitment to retention, culture, leadership accountability and structural inclusion.

The Role of Transparency: Publication of updates has improved significantly, but quality and completeness of disclosures remain inconsistent across signatories.

Looking Ahead: 2025 is projected to be a turning point year with more deadlines due and predictive analysis suggesting potential for strong results, if efforts are intensified.

The 2024 Annual Review of the Women in Finance Charter shows meaningful, persistent progress in female representation across the financial services sector. But meeting broader parity goals will require greater ambition, strategic action, and transparent reporting from signatories.

This year’s evidence reinforces that gender balance is not only a fairness issue, it’s increasingly recognised as a business imperative that drives resilience, competitive advantage and sustainable leadership